YAS MARINA CIRCUIT GEARS UP TO HOST FIVE-DAY #ABUDHABIGP FESTIVAL

Yas Marina Circuit will be at its brilliant best thanks to dedicated army of cleaners, gardeners and technical experts ahead of the FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX 2019

Final race of 2019 F1® season part of five fantastic days of motorsports, music and family entertainment from Nov 28-Dec 2

Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, UAE November 25, 2019: With the five-day Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race festival just around the corner, Yas Marina Circuit is buzzing with activity as the world famous F1® landmark prepares to welcome 60,000 motorsports fans with 70 per cent visiting internationally, hundreds of team officials along with VIP guests, celebrities, international media and, of course, the world’s best drivers.

Making sure everything is ready and set to go ahead of the big race is a huge team of dedicated cleaners, painters, gardeners and skilled technical experts who will be hard at work across the Circuit’s track, grandstands and landscaped areas.

As one of the world’s iconic motorsports venues, it’s vital that Yas Marina Circuit looks its very best for the tens of thousands of fans packed into the stands and the many millions watching live on TV around the globe. Squads of painters will work around the clock to apply a fresh coat of paint to the 5.5-km track, using a total of 4,500 litres of ‘Yas blue’ paint, 720 litres of ivory, 1,440 litres of red and 1,440 litres of white paint.

Overall 2-3 tonnes of fresh paint will be used to freshen up the Circuit, with 500 kgs being applied to the kerbing each day ahead of the event that runs from November 28 to December 2.

Before this year’s five-day racing festival, a small army of cleaners will be given the essential task of clearing away the dust from the Circuit’s impressive Grandstands. Equipped with high-pressure hoses, the team will set about tackling the Circuit’s 228 canopies over a mammoth 6,920hours of non-stop cleaning work in order have the venue looking spick and span and ready to welcome spectators.

Away from track and the Grandstands, Yas Marina Circuit’s 88.4 acres of landscaped areas are also given special attention with teams of gardeners pruning and planting 2.52 acres of seasonal flowers and petunias.

The green-fingered gardeners will install more than 1,750 different kinds of foliage along with 886 varieties of Palms and 529 potted plants to bring a splash of natural colour and the wonderful scented aroma of flowers to Yas Marina Circuit.

While the huge cleaning operation is going on ahead of the F1® long weekend’s official start, behind the scenes the huge logistical task of organising this epic motorsport event is already well under way.

Teams of motor racing experts and logistics managers direct fleets of transporters carrying everything required for the FIA F2 Championship and the Trophy Round F4UAE race. These championships, which will provide the F1® champion drivers of tomorrow, with the F2 Drivers’ Title to be determined during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Squads of highly skilled technicians and safety experts will inspect every inch of the Circuit as part of intensive procedures to ensure the safety of the drivers, teams and the spectators watching the F1® action unfold.

With the huge to-do list slowly being completed job by job, the time arrives for the 10 teams to land in Abu Dhabi. Fresh from the season’s penultimate race in Brazil, the teams and the hundreds of personnel that travel with them will sweep into the UAE’s capital city in a fleet of planes, ships and lorries, all loaded with the essentials that keep F1® on the road and racing.

In total, 7 special charter flights will land at Abu Dhabi International Airport, with 6 flying from the UK and 1 from Europe.

Each plane will be loaded with an average of 100 tonnes of gear, while Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Port will handle 336 containers – totalling 1,000 tonnes – filled with the kit needed to make sure all of the F1®, and F2 teams are able to put on yet another thrilling display of motorsport action.

It will take more than 400 people using 70 forklift trucks to offload the vast amounts of the equipment once it reaches Yas Marina Circuit while 600trucks will move the gear to and from the Circuit.

As well as taking up 18 villas and 70 garages the teams will go through 30,000 litres of drinks during race weekend, while more than 200 cylinders of gas and 4 tonnes of dry ice will be delivered.

After 20 rounds racing the 2019 F1® season is guaranteed a thrilling grand finale in Abu Dhabi – and Yas Marina Circuit is guaranteed to be looking great!